House debates
Monday, 1 December 2008
- Main Committee (0 speeches)
- (1 speech)
I advise the House that the Deputy Speaker has fixed today at 11 am as the time for the next meeting of the Main Committee, unless an alternative day or hour is fixed.
- Private Members’ Motions (1 speech)
In accordance with standing order 41(h), and the recommendations of the whips adopted by the House on 26 November 2008, I present copies of the terms of motions for which notice has been given by...
- Nation-Building Funds Bill 2008; Nation-Building Funds (Consequential Amendments) Bill 2008; Coag Reform Fund Bill 2008 (0 speeches)
- Referred to Main Committee (1 speech)
by leave—I move: That the bills be referred to the Main Committee for further consideration. May I point out to all honourable members that this motion enjoys the support of the Chief...
- Evidence Amendment Bill 2008; Transport Security Amendment (2008 Measures No. 1) Bill 2008; National Measurement Amendment Bill 2008; Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority Bill 2008; Tax Laws Amendment (Education Refund) Bill 2008 (0 speeches)
- Returned from the Senate (0 speeches)
Message received from the Senate returning the bills without amendment or request.
- Migration Legislation Amendment (Worker Protection) Bill 2008 (0 speeches)
- First Reading (0 speeches)
Bill received from the Senate, and read a first time. Ordered that the second reading be made an order of the day for the next sitting.
- Water Amendment Bill 2008 (0 speeches)
- Consideration of Senate Message (0 speeches)
Bill returned from the Senate with amendments. Ordered that the amendments be considered at a later hour this day.
- Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs and Other Legislation Amendment (Emergency Response Consolidation) Bill 2008 (0 speeches)
- Fair Work Bill 2008 (0 speeches)
- Second Reading (15 speeches)
Debate resumed from 25 November, on motion by Ms Gillard: That this bill be now read a second time.
- Ministerial Arrangements (0 speeches)
- (1 speech)
I inform the House that the Minister for Foreign Affairs will be absent from question time this week as he is in Brussels and Oslo to hold consultations with NATO and European Union counterparts....
- Condolences (0 speeches)
- Lieutenant Michael Kenneth Housdan Fussell (3 speeches)
I move: That the House record its deep regret at the death on 27 November 2008, of Lieutenant Michael Kenneth Housdan Fussell, killed while on combat operations in Afghanistan, and place on...
- Main Committee (0 speeches)
- Mumbai Terrorist Attacks (0 speeches)
- (4 speeches)
Mr Speaker, I seek to make a statement on indulgence.
- Condolences (0 speeches)
- Mr Jorn Utzon (2 speeches)
Mr Speaker, on indulgence: today we honour a great man who designed a great building and through that great building made an extraordinary contribution to the great city that is Sydney. It is...
- Questions without Notice (0 speeches)
- Schools: Computers (10 speeches)
My question is addressed to the Prime Minister. Does the Prime Minister stand by his 2007 election commitment, and I quote the Digital Education Revolution policy document, which says: ... to...
- Council of Australian Governments (2 speeches)
My question is to the Prime Minister. Will the Prime Minister outline the significance of Saturday’s Council of Australian Governments meeting on creating jobs, stimulating the economy and...
- Schools: Computers (7 speeches)
My question is to the Deputy Prime Minister. I refer to the Deputy Prime Minister’s bungled computers in schools pledge, which will now benefit only half the students originally promised at...
- Council of Australian Governments (2 speeches)
My question is to the Treasurer. Will the Treasurer outline the important economic reforms from the COAG meeting on the weekend?
- Schools: Computers (7 speeches)
My question is to the Deputy Prime Minister. I refer the Deputy Prime Minister to chapter 5 of the Grimes report, which suggests that funding to the non-government sector should be reconsidered...
- Health Funding (2 speeches)
My question is to the Minister for Health and Ageing. Will the minister outline to the House the importance of the health reforms agreed to by COAG at the weekend?
- Broadband (4 speeches)
My question is to the Prime Minister. Does the Prime Minister stand by his election commitment that through fibre to the node his government will deliver broadband to 98 per cent of Australians...
- Schools: Funding (2 speeches)
My question is to the Minister for Education, the Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations, and the Minister for Social Inclusion. Will the minister detail the weekend’s historic...
- Broadband (2 speeches)
My question is to the Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government. Minister, how will the government pay for the multibillion dollar funding shortfall in its...
- Indigenous Communities (2 speeches)
My question is to the Minister for Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs. Will the minister update the House on the Australian government’s commitment to closing the gap?
- Economy (7 speeches)
My question is to the Treasurer. I refer to the Treasurer’s failure to define the government’s so-called temporary deficit. Isn’t it a fact that the government’s plan to...
- Infrastructure (2 speeches)
My question is to the Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government. What action has the government taken to boost private investment in infrastructure?
- Council of Australian Governments (2 speeches)
My question is to the Prime Minister. I refer the Prime Minister to his repeated promises to re-engineer federalism. Prime Minister, isn’t it a fact that apart from the five special-purpose...
- Thailand (2 speeches)
My question is to the Minister for Trade, the Minister representing the Minister for Foreign Affairs. What is the government doing to assist the Australians affected by the disruptions at...
- Emissions Trading Scheme (8 speeches)
My question is to the Prime Minister. I refer the Prime Minister to the article in today’s Newcastle Herald which says up to 36,000 jobs in the Hunter region would be put at risk by...
- Climate Change (2 speeches)
My question is to the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and the Arts. What action is the government taking to transition Australia to a low-pollution economy and are there any threats to...
- Asylum Seekers (11 speeches)
My question is addressed to the Prime Minister. I refer the Prime Minister to the recent surge in the number of boat people attempting to reach Australia and the statement by the chief of mission...
- Economy (10 speeches)
My question is to the Assistant Treasurer. Will the Assistant Treasurer outline to the House the need for economic credibility in assessing government spending programs? What current actions...
- Education (21 speeches)
My question is to the Minister for Education, the Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations and the Minister for Social Inclusion. Will the minister update the House on the phasing out of...
- Questions without Notice: Additional Answers (0 speeches)
- Health Funding (3 speeches)
Mr Speaker, I seek the indulgence of the chair to add to an answer.
- Thailand (3 speeches)
Mr Speaker, I seek the indulgence of the chair to add to an answer.
- Questions to the Speaker (0 speeches)
- Main Committee (1 speech)
Last Tuesday I informed the House that I would sympathetically consider options for incorporating into Hansard the text of statements made by four members in the Main Committee on Monday evening....
- Personal Explanations (0 speeches)
- (30 speeches)
Mr Speaker, I wish to make a personal explanation.
- Documents (0 speeches)
- (1 speech)
Documents are presented as listed in the schedule circulated to honourable members. Details of the documents will be recorded in the Votes and Proceedings.
- Ministerial Statements (0 speeches)
- National Rental Affordability Scheme Bill 2008; Australian Organ and Tissue Donation and Transplantation Authority Bill 2008; Dairy Adjustment Levy Termination Bill 2008; Financial Transaction Reports Amendment (Transitional Arrangements) Bill 2008; Great Barrier Reef Marine Park and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2008; Trade Practices Amendment (Clarity in Pricing) Bill 2008; Customs Amendment (Australia-Chile Free Trade Agreement Implementation) Bill 2008; Customs Tariff Amendment (Australia-Chile Free Trade Agreement Implementation) Bill 2008; Guarantee Scheme for Large Deposits and Wholesale Funding Appropriation Bill 2008; National Rental Affordability Scheme (Consequential Amendments) Bill 2008 (0 speeches)
- Assent (0 speeches)
Messages from the Governor-General reported informing the House of assent to the bills.
- Committees (0 speeches)
- Public Works Committee; Report (1 speech)
On behalf of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Public Works, I present the 9th report for 2008 of the committee relating to referrals made from June to September 2008. Ordered that the...
- Economics Committee; Report (1 speech)
by leave—I present a corrigendum to the report of the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Economics entitled Competition in the banking and non-banking sectors.
- Standing and Sessional Orders (0 speeches)
- (1 speech)
At the request of the Leader of the House, I move: That, unless otherwise ordered, the following sessional orders, adopted by the House on 24 June 2008, operate for the remainder of the 42nd...
- Water Amendment Bill 2008 (0 speeches)
- Consideration of Senate Message (61 speeches)
Consideration resumed. Senate’s amendments— (1) Clause 2, page 2 (table item 4), omit “Schedule 3”, substitute “Schedules 3 and 4”....
- Nation-Building Funds Bill 2008 (0 speeches)
- Report from Main Committee (0 speeches)
Bill returned from Main Committee for further consideration; certified copy of the bill presented. Ordered that this bill be considered immediately.
- Second Reading (1 speech)
Debate resumed.
- Third Reading (1 speech)
by leave—I move: That this bill be now read a third time. Question agreed to. Bill read a third time.
- Nation-Building Funds (Consequential Amendments) Bill 2008 (0 speeches)
- Report from Main Committee (0 speeches)
Bill returned from Main Committee for further consideration; certified copy of the bill presented. Ordered that this bill be considered immediately.
- Second Reading (1 speech)
Debate resumed.
- Third Reading (1 speech)
by leave—I move: That this bill be now read a third time. Question agreed to. Bill read a third time.
- Coag Reform Fund Bill 2008 (0 speeches)
- Report from Main Committee (0 speeches)
Bill returned from Main Committee for further consideration; certified copy of the bill presented. Ordered that this bill be considered immediately.
- Second Reading (1 speech)
Debate resumed.
- Consideration in Detail (1 speech)
Bill—by leave—taken as a whole.
- Third Reading (1 speech)
by leave—I move: That this bill be now read a third time. Question agreed to. Bill read a third time.
- Fair Work Bill 2008 (0 speeches)
- Petitions (0 speeches)
- (1 speech)
On behalf of the Standing Committee on Petitions, and in accordance with standing order 207, I present the following petitions:
- Responses (1 speech)
Ministerial responses to petitions previously presented to the House have been received as follows:
- Responses; Indigenous Communities (0 speeches)
Dear Mrs Irwin, Thank you for your letter of 17 September 2008 in relation to a petition about giving Indigenous Australians a voice. I welcome the opportunity to respond to the petition. The...
- Responses; Pedestrian Crossing: Athelstone (0 speeches)
Dear Mrs Irwin, Thank you for your letter of 17 September 2008 about pedestrian safety on Gorge Road in the vicinity of St Ignatius campus, Athelstone. I advise that guidelines within Australian...
- Statements (2 speeches)
Last Wednesday evening the Standing Committee on Petitions had the great pleasure of meeting with its counterpart from the Scottish parliament, the Public Petitions Committee, by videoconference....
- Saving the Goulburn and Murray Rivers Bill 2008 (0 speeches)
- First Reading (2 speeches)
Bill and explanatory memorandum presented by Fran Bailey.
- Committees (0 speeches)
- Migration Committee; Report (3 speeches)
On behalf of the Joint Standing Committee on Migration, I present the committee’s report, incorporating a dissenting report, entitled Immigration detention in Australia: a new...
- Migration Committee; Report: Referral to Main Committee (1 speech)
I move: That the order of the day be referred to the Main Committee for debate. Question agreed to.
- Corporations and Financial Services Committee; Report (3 speeches)
On behalf of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Corporations and Financial Services, I present the committee’s report entitled Opportunity not opportunism: improving conduct in Australian...
- Corporations and Financial Services Committee; Report: Referral to Main Committee (1 speech)
I move: That the order of the day be referred to the Main Committee for debate. Question agreed to.
- Industry, Science and Innovation Committee; Report (3 speeches)
On behalf of the Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Innovation, I present the committee’s interim and final reports of its inquiry into research training and research workforce...
- Industry, Science and Innovation Committee; Reports: Referral to Main Committee (1 speech)
I move: That the order of the day be referred to the Main Committee for debate. In moving the motion, may I take this opportunity to thank the members of the secretariat who are here and all of...
- Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Committee; Report (2 speeches)
On behalf of the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade, I present the committee’s report entitled Review of the Defence annual report 2006-2007. Ordered that the...
- Delegation Reports (0 speeches)
- Adjournment (0 speeches)
- (1 speech)
Order! It being 9.30 pm, I propose the question: That the House do now adjourn.
- Australian National Academy of Music (1 speech)
This evening it is my melancholy duty to talk about the rushed and bungled way in which the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and the Arts, Peter Garrett, has completely mishandled the...
- Death Penalty (1 speech)
Why is it that blank bullets are distributed among the Indonesian firing squad, leaving each member of the squad with the hope that it was not their bullet that exploded the heart of the...
- Child Care (1 speech)
I rise tonight to detail several of the issues that remain unanswered by the Rudd government following the collapse of ABC Learning in late October. At the outset, I want to commend the receivers...
- Education (1 speech)
It is imperative for the future of Australia and Australia’s next generation that we recognise the need to invest in education and improving the skills of all Australians. We need to invest...
- Cowper Electorate: North Coast Area Health Service (1 speech)
Despite the best efforts of a dedicated staff, the North Coast Area Health Service has been buckling under the strain of inadequate resources for too long. A rapidly-growing population, an ageing...
- Vietnamese Australians (1 speech)
As a young boy at Cabramatta Public School I remember that every week there was a new classmate, a different voice, a different language and different stories about boats, choppy seas and war:...
- Australian National Academy of Music (5 speeches)
In light of the ill-informed and belated attacks on the policies of the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and the Arts with regard to the Australian National Academy of Music by one of the...
- Notices (0 speeches)
- (1 speech)
The following notice was given:
- Nation-Building Funds Bill 2008; Nation-Building Funds (Consequential Amendments) Bill 2008; Coag Reform Fund Bill 2008 (0 speeches)
- Second Reading (27 speeches)
Debate resumed from 27 November, on motion by Mr Tanner: That this bill be now read a second time.
- Business (0 speeches)
- Rearrangement (1 speech)
I move: That business intervening before order of the day No. 2, government business, be postponed until a later hour this day. Question agreed to.
- Ministerial Statements (0 speeches)
- Economy (10 speeches)
Debate resumed from 26 November, on motion by Mr Albanese: That the House take note of the following document: Australia’s response to the Global Financial Crisis
- Statements by Members (0 speeches)
- HMAS Armidale (1 speech)
Today we remember the crew of the HMAS Armidalethose who lost their lives and those who fought to survive. On this day 66 years ago, the HMAS Armidale was making her way with HMAS Kuru and...
- Swiftsure Regatta (1 speech)
I want to talk about the annual Swiftsure Regatta, which is a small regatta held in the town of Franklin on the beautiful Huon River in my electorate. It was my pleasure to go there a few weeks...
- Wivenhoe Dam: Water Recycling (1 speech)
I welcome the news that the Premier of Queensland has backflipped on her government’s decision to pump recycled water into Wivenhoe Dam to supplement drinking water supplies for South-East...
- Mr Bill Jakobssen (1 speech)
I rise this evening to acknowledge the contribution of a very special resident in my electorate, Bill Jakobssen, who sadly passed away earlier this month. The passing away of any community member...
- Millennium Development Goals (1 speech)
On 13 October this year I had the great pleasure of meeting Fiona Grech from Micah Challenge as part of the Voices for Justice 2008 gathering, an event that brought together individuals from...
- 4th Annual State Conference for Primary Health Care, Research, Evaluation and Development (1 speech)
Last Saturday I spoke on the opening day of the 4th Annual State Conference for Primary Health Care, Research, Evaluation and Development at the University of Notre Dame in my electorate of...
- Red Frogs Australia (1 speech)
The humble red frog has been the icebreaker at Schoolies Week for the last 11 years, since its introduction on the Gold Coast in 1997. Starting with only 80 kilograms in the first year, Red Frogs...
- Mr Bill Smith (1 speech)
I rise to mark the passing of a great man from my community, Bill Smith. He worked for 43 years on the railways, coming to the profession in 1937, in what was arguably the golden era of rail...
- Swan Electorate: Fraser Park (1 speech)
On Saturday evening I attended the opening of the new clubrooms at Fraser Park, in the suburb of Victoria Park in my electorate of Swan. Fraser Park was originally named after James Macintosh...
- Mr Alby Burgin; Postal Services: Jewellstown Plaza (2 speeches)
I would like to acknowledge and pay tribute to the life of Mr Alby Burgin. He was a Freeman of the City of Lake Macquarie and he died last week. He was a committed sailor. Days before he died, he...
- Private Members’ Business (0 speeches)
- Citizen Military Forces (5 speeches)
Debate resumed from 24 November, on motion by Mr Bruce Scott: That the House:(1)reaffirms the definition of ‘veteran’ as set out by the Department of Veterans’...
- World AIDS Day (8 speeches)
Debate resumed, on motion by Mr Danby: That the House notes that:(1)1 December 2008 is the 20th anniversary of the first commemoration of World AIDS Day under the auspices of the United...
- Murray-Darling Basin Management Plan (7 speeches)
Debate resumed, on motion by Ms Hull: That the House calls on the Rudd Government:(1)to deliver greater transparency and accountability as it moves towards the development of a Basin wide...
- Grievance Debate (0 speeches)
- (1 speech)
Debate resumed from 24 November.
- Swimming Pool Covers; Dunkley Electorate: Roads (1 speech)
I rise tonight under the protection of parliamentary privilege to talk about a scandal and a cover-up. Sadly, the scandal is all too present across Australia and the cover-up is not broad enough....
- Infrastructure (2 speeches)
Tonight in the grievance debate I also want to talk about infrastructure. But I want to talk about it from a federal perspective and praise the current Rudd government, which has rightly placed...
- Mr Petro Georgiou (1 speech)
Who among us would choose to listen to a voice of reason and conscience in an ocean of expediency, perceived self-preservation and political thuggery? One hundred years after an immigrant from...
- Mr Petro Georgiou; Self-Funded Retirees (1 speech)
I would also like to express my regard for Petro Georgiou for the contribution that he has made to this place. I certainly enjoyed the tribute that the member for McMillan paid to his friend. I...
- Infrastructure (1 speech)
I am certain that the member for Corangamite ran out of time; otherwise he would have added to his presentation that he would be opposing the Rudd government’s changes to income and assets...
- Universal Declaration of Human Rights (2 speeches)
Next Wednesday, 10 December, marks the 60th anniversary of the adoption by the United Nations of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It is often said that as a relatively small Western...
